Charities 'have key neighbourhood role'

The voluntary sector has a key role in the government's plans to improve neighbourhoods, local government minister Phil Woolas told charity chief executives at a conference in London today.

Speaking at the annual conference of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations, Mr Woolas said: "We want to ensure in every neighbourhood in the country people are proud to live there and proud to say they come from there."

The neighbourhood agenda meant not only devolution from central to local government but devolution from local authorities down to neighbourhood level, he said.

"We don't believe we can achieve that without the integral role of your sector," he told the conference.

And he stressed: "We want your sector to be involved in local service delivery as a vital part of life in our communities."

But the charity chiefs were also warned that delivering public services under contract to central and local government could put public trust in charities at risk.

An Acevo report, The End of the Affair? Public Trust in the Management of Charities, launched at the conference, warns that public trust can be placed at risk "by the associations developed through working partnerships".

It adds "there may be a dissonance between some of the values associated with the sector, including its independence and its increasing role in the delivery of services on behalf of government".

It cites the findings from a survey of 207 charity chief executives and 25 trustee board chairs, which revealed that 75% felt that the public's trust was based on charities' independence from government.

It warned: "At present charities are seen as more honest and possessing greater integrity than government, yet they are not free from government influence.

"The boundary between third sector and government is already blurred, for example by charities that are established by government agencies."

Sir David Omand, former permanent secretary at the Home Office and Cabinet Office, who chaired the steering group behind the report, told the conference that 90% of the public respect what charities are trying to do.

But he added: "The cloud on the horizon is that just over half trust charities more than government or business."

He described that as "a disturbingly low figure".

There were risks to delivering services on behalf of the government he warned.

"You're potentially in the frontline for criticism ... for policies that aren't your policies."

Charities could also be held responsible for poor levels or quality of services "which may be constrained" by public sector budgets.

The theme of public trust and confidence in charities ran through the conference debate.

John Low, chief executive of deaf people's charity RNID, told delegates that 69 % of the public say they do not know how charities are run, according to recent research from the Charity Commission.

He asked whether relying on public trust "grounded in outdated myths" was acceptable. One answer lay in better, clearer communication, he said.

Charities should explain the real impact of their work, he said. "I do believe earnestly it's only by being clear about why we're here and what we're achieving that the public will understand our role and how we operate."

The Acevo chief executive, Stephen Bubb, also stressed the importance of how charities worked in the modern world in order to bolster public trust.

They should be upfront about the staffing and logistics that back up their operations.

Members of the public "want every pound to go to a good cause", but Mr Bubb urged charities not to be complicit in the idea that charities got aid "from Heathrow to the Himalayan mountains with the wave of a magic wand".

Charities should "explain that chief executives are paid professional salaries and we want to pay our staff professional salaries", he said "but we need to demonstrate their impact".